


To Steal a Dream

by HereToWrite



Series: A-Team AUs [2]
Category: Inception (2010), The A-Team (TV), The A-Team - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, lots of dreams
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-06 08:38:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16384841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HereToWrite/pseuds/HereToWrite
Summary: An Inception AU for The A-TeamThere's dreaming and then there'sdreaming,the kind that you can go in and manipulate until you at last emerge with what you want firmly locked in your own mind. That's what the A-Team had done for the army, stolen, fought, won, until they'd been framed and betrayed.But rumor has it that since their escape they still do it. Whispers say that if you need help and if you can find them, that they still know how to get into minds. Rumor has it that no matter what the odds are they always win.But rumors aren't always true and there's a reason that Face doesn't seem all that happy about their latest mission.Previously Somnium





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to all those Inception YouTube videos I watched while writing this
> 
> So I really wanted an Inception/A-Team AU and there isn't one, at least that I can find, so I just took matters into my own hands and hopefully y'all enjoy it :)
> 
> **chapter rewritten on October 31st, 2018 Happy Halloween y'all**

Amy blinked, what in the world? She was in a small room full of clothes, around her was the background noise of running machines and the smell of laundry detergent. When had she—?

“Who are you?”

A sharp voice broke her out of her thoughts, with a start Amy turned around sharply, heart racing. Only to calm down as she noticed who had spoken. It was an old Chinese man, short anc hunched, and although there was a perfect scowl set on his face, he hardly seemed like a threat. 

When she didn’t answer right away his brow furrowed behind his glasses and he shouted again.

“Well! Who are you? Why are you here? We’re about to close and I’ll have you know that last minute customers are not my favorite to deal with!”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Amy stuttered out, eying the man cautiously. 

“Bah! Don’t understand! Don’t understand! You in my store! I need to close! Do you have laundry or not?!” He bustled about, hands waving and although Amy stood perfectly still she couldn’t help, but feel slightly dizzy by the motions.

“No, but I—”

“Then leave! Shoo!” He brushed his hands towards her, the very depiction of annoyance.

“No, wait!” She sidestepped him, before he could push her out the door. “I’m looking for someone, a group of someone’s they told me to meet them here.”

Except had they? She seemed to think that they had, but hadn’t she been talking to a homeless man before? Hadn’t there been an alleyway? …No, that didn’t make any sense.

Amy blinked again, and for the first time realized that she couldn’t exactly explain how she had gotten here. What was going on?

“And who are you meeting, hmmm? Hoodlums I’m sure, especially at  _ this  _ time of night!”

Exasperated Amy launched her own question at him, “ _ Who are you?” _

“Me? I am Mr. Lee, nobody important, but you, you’re looking for important people. You’re looking for the A-team. Why?”

“You know them!”

“Perhaps,” he spoke slowly, drawing out the word along with Amy’s patience. “Perhaps, life is tricky, life is faces, there one moment gone the next. You can’t trust them.”

“Do you know how I can find them? My friend, he’s in some real trouble and I need help getting to him.”

“Ah, I see. There’s always someone in trouble, always someone to save. The real question is do you have the money? The A-Team, criminals all of them, they want money!” He scowled at her and held out his hand expectantly. “Well do you have it?”

Amy scowled right back at this silly little man and swatted his hand away. Who was he to demand these things? “I don’t see why that’s any of your business?”

“You want to see the A-Team? Don’t you? Well I need to know if you’re willing to pay. If you’re not,” he threatened. “I won’t call them for you.”

Amy’s scowl deepened as her frustration grew, “I like to deal with my criminals face to face thank you very much.” She said, crossing her arms. She was nothing if not stubborn, her mom had told her as much. “I asked for their help, not your’s, the very least they can do is meet me in person instead of sending their…their lackies out to meet me!”

“Lackies!” Mr. Lee screeched. “Lackies! Perhaps  _ you  _ should go! The A-Team will want nothing to do with you! Not today!” He began to turn around, but Amy’s anger had reached its peak. How dare he! How dare he brush her off when her friend could be dying! How dare the A-Team send this small annoying little shop owner to do their dirty work!

“No!” Amy yelled, grabbing the man by the shoulders and turning him around. “If the A-team really won’t help me, if they really are willing to push me aside then I want to see them! I want them to look me in the eyes and refuse my request so that I can let them know that by doing so they are condemning an innocent man to death! Or are they too coward to face me?”

The Chinese man looked up at her, eyes bearing into hers. But Amy didn’t move, didn’t look away, didn’t even fidget. If this was a contest of wills she was going to win.

Suddenly Mr. Lee’s face broke into a large smile, “Ms. Allen, I do believe that we should continue this conversation elsewhere. Upstairs perhaps?”

Amy blinked, that had not been the expected response. She had expected him to get angry, to yell. And wait a minute. What had he called her?  “How do you know my name?”

“You’ll find Ms. Allen, that in this line of work it’s hard to trust your own eyes.”

His accent, where had it gone? In place of it was a perfect string of English. And his face, was it shifting? Something about it was off, his eyes weren’t quite as angular, his nose not quite as large. And was he growing?

“Now, as I said I believe that this would be a better conversation to have upstairs,” Mr. Lee checked his watch. “Ah, perfect, we finished just in time. Now Ms. Allen, if you’ll please just remain calm, I’ll see you again in just a minute.”

Amy opened her mouth, determined to get answers, but then the world exploded, and she found herself falling into nothingness instead.


	2. Somnium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amy huffed, “Right.” She rolled her shoulders and casually fell into her reporter voice, it was something more comfortable and helped her feel like she was in control of the situation. “My friend, Sean, has been missing now for a little over two weeks.” She reached into her purse and pulled out the stack of papers she had collected as evidence, at Face’s prompting she handed them over, watching as he flipped through them. “I believe that he’s landed himself in some sort of trouble. You see he was investigating this big corporation called—”
> 
> “Somnium Enterprises,” Face finished for her, whistling low. “Your friend sure knows how to pick them.”
> 
> “You know them?”
> 
> ”Sure, they run an illegal dreaming gig underground and sell overpriced home security above ground.” Face hesitated and glanced over at Hannibal, before continuing. “We, uh, had a run in with them a couple missions back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up, here comes everyone else!

She awoke with a gasp, bolting upright and into someone’s arms.

“Easy,” a smooth voice said. “Easy, the first time’s always the hardest. Just breathe.”

Amy groaned, dropping her head into her hands. What was going on? Where was she?

“Where—?” She stopped as a sudden wave of nausea hit her. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“You better not let her throw up in my van, Hannibal! I told you that doin’ this on the road was a bad idea!”

“Now, BA, we both know that we couldn’t have taken her back to the safe house.”

Van? The last thing she remembered was a laundromat. There had been a Chinese man and yelling and then darkness and—she was getting kidnapped! The realization hit her like a ton of bricks, causing panic to begin to settle in her stomach. Her boss had always told her that she was sticking her nose in too many places where it didn’t belong and now she was finally paying the price for it!

All at once the strong arms around her felt too confining and she began to struggle and scream. A sharp, “Keep her quiet” and a hand came up around her mouth. How dare they! She continued to kick and struggle, until a voice whispered calmly.

“Ms. Allen, please if you’ll just calm down and let us explain. We have some business to attend to and as you’re the one hiring us, I feel that it’s only fair that you don’t end up getting us caught by the police.”

Hire?

Amy stopped struggling and turned to look into the eyes of a rather handsome young man. Templeton Peck, her mind supplied, the Faceman, recalling the files she had poured over the night before.

He flashed her a smile and she felt her stomach flutter for a moment. The detached thought of, his wanted pictures doesn’t do him justice floated around in her head for a bit, before she kicked it out and focused.

“There we are,” Templeton was saying. “That wasn’t so hard now was it?”

“Face, leave the lovely lady alone and let’s get on with business, shall we?” Another voice to her right and she looked over to see an older man, eyes sparkling, cigar in his mouth. John Smith. Hannibal.

Face let go of her with a rather defensive, “I was just talking to her.”

“Ain’t no such thing as talkin’ when it comes to you sucka,” a voice from the front seat growled out. Amy looked around Face to see a rather large black man sitting in the driver’s seat. Bosco Baracus, she thought. The one with the bad attitude. Although all that gold around his neck hadn’t been included in his file. She thinks, with a smile, that given the size of it she wouldn’t have been all that surprised to discover that it had a wanted poster and file all its own.

“You actually came,” Amy breathed out, unable to stop the hint of awe in her voice. 

“Of course we came. We always come,” Hannibal huffed out. “We just had to know you were trustworthy first.”

“But how did you find me? How did I get here?”

“Ms. Allen, you’ve studied the science of dreams, you’ve written articles about it. Think about it.”

Amy frowned at Hannibal as he smirked at her from his seat. This was a test and she most certainly wasn’t going to fail. She thought about Mr. Lee, the way he’d smiled at her, the way his face had changed and his accent had dropped. 

“I was dreaming,” Amy breathed out, pieces falling into place. Then let out a shrieking, “You drugged me!” As she realized exactly what that dream entitled.

“Only a little,” Hannibal said, the very picture of relaxed, cigar wobbling in his teeth as he smiled.

“That’s illegal!”

“Ms. Allen, we are criminals, it’s to be expected.”

Amy scowled and opened her mouth to continue, only to have Templeton cut her off.

“Now, let’s not get uncivilized. We’re all adults here and we do have some business to go over. So, Ms. Allen, if you’ll please explain to us why you were so desperate to meet.”

Amy huffed, “Right.” She rolled her shoulders and casually fell into her reporter voice, it was something more comfortable and helped her feel like she was in control of the situation. “My friend, Sean, has been missing now for a little over two weeks.” She reached into her purse and pulled out the stack of papers she had collected as evidence, at Face’s prompting she handed them over, watching as he flipped through them. “I believe that he’s landed himself in some sort of trouble. You see he was investigating this big corporation called—”

“Somnium Enterprises,” Face finished for her, whistling low. “Your friend sure knows how to pick them.”

“You know them?”

”Sure, they run an illegal dreaming gig underground and sell overpriced home security above ground.” Face hesitated and glanced over at Hannibal, before continuing. “We, uh, had a run in with them a couple missions back.”

“That’s what Sean said,” Amy continued. “He just knew that they were up to something shady and our boss told him to let it go. But Sean, he just doesn’t know when to call it quits. He told us that he was going to go and get the story whether we approved of it or not, that was two and a half weeks ago. A couple days ago someone gave us an anonymous tip that he’d been taken by Somnium, but my boss won’t pursue it. Says that, ‘there’s not enough information’ or some sort of bull like that. I think he’s just scared. He won’t even get the police involved.”

“So you decided to hire us?” Hannibal asked and Amy scowled, she didn’t like the amusement in his eyes as he leaned forward into her space. “Did it ever occur to you, Ms. Allen, that we’re just as dangerous as those men are? After all we’re wanted by the military, and while Somnium may be dangerous they are hardly on the USA’s most wanted list.”

“Listen,” she shot back. “I didn’t have a choice. I can’t go to the police because then my boss will be involved. And I can’t go in myself, because I don’t have enough information or experience when it comes to dreaming, but you guys help people. That’s what everyone said. You have the experience and they said that you can get the information that I need.”

“And what is it exactly that you want us to do?”

“I just need a location, something solid, if you three can get into the head of someone high up at Somnium and get them to tell you where Sean is then I can call the police and they can go and get him.”

Hannibal nodded, “Sounds simple enough.”

“I don’t know boss,” Face spoke up, chewing his lip nervously. He was still flicking through her files, brow furrowing more and more with each page. “You know what Somnium’s like and after last time, I don’t think that—”

“Ah where’s your sense of adventure Faceman? I’ve been wanting to have another crack at those guys and saving Ms. Allen’s friend here will just be a nice bonus.”

“Well sure, but—”

“Come on Face don’t tell me you’re losing your touch?”

Face scowled, “I’m not, I’m just a little…concerned about going up against them after what happened last time.”

“What exactly happened last time?” Amy asked, interest piqued.

“There were…complications,” Hannibal answered.

Face let out a harsh laugh, “Complications? They were a bit more than complications, don’t you think?”

Hannibal didn’t even look over at him. “But that’s ancient history, this is the perfect opportunity to get back at those slimeballs and show them who’s boss once and for all.”

“I hate to say it, but I have ta agree with Faceman,” BA rumbled from the driver’s seat. “Those Somnium people are trouble.”

“All the more reason to take them down,” Hannibal countered. “Besides, what about Ms. Allen’s friend? We can’t just leave an innocent man in those criminals’ hands, now can we?”

Silence and Amy fidgeted as the three men in the van seemed to hold some sort of conversation with just their eyes. It ended when Face looked away and BA let out a growl.

“Right,” Hannibal smiled triumphantly and stuck his hand out toward Amy. “Congratulations, Ms. Allen, you’ve just hired the A-Team.”

Amy shook it with a nod, “When do we start?”

Face smiled, “You know I like a woman who knows how to get straight down to business.”

“Shut it fool! She’s a client.”

“Oh, so now I’m not allowed to compliment people!”

“Ain’t no compliment.”

“You’ll have to excuse BA, Ms. Allen, I’m afraid he has no class,” the last two words were said a bit louder than necessary, no doubt ensuring that BA heard the insult. “I can’t wait to get to know you better.” He held out his hand with a smile.

Amy looked at Face in amusement, before taking his hand, “Please call me Amy. Ms. Allen makes me sound too old.”

Another blinding grin and something mischievous danced in Templeton Peck’s eyes and oh Amy was going to have to watch herself around him. He was trouble. She could just sense it. The kind of man you could bring home to your parents and he would charm and joke his way into their hearts and then out the door with their checkbooks and wallets.

Shifting her gaze out the window, she frowned when she realized they were driving further into the city, “I didn’t think your safehouse would be in the city itself.”

“It’s not,” Hannibal told her.

“Then where are we going?’

“We have one last member of the team to pick-up.”

“Who?”

“Our Architect.”

**\---**

They pulled up across the street from a white building with pretty lawns and flowers. The words Veterans Administration Psychiatric Hospital printed neatly across the sign that was stationed in the front.

“Your friend lives here?” She exclaimed, unable to keep the shock out of her voice.

“Yes,” Hannibal said seriously. “Go and get him Face, we’ll wait for you here.”

Amy watched as Face grabbed a doctor’s lab coat from seemingly nowhere, leapt out the van door, and headed off towards the hospital entrance.

“But why does he stay here? Is he, you know, insane?” Amy said the last word softly, unsure if this question was something that could be asked aloud or not. People were often unpredictable with this sort of thing, but Hannibal didn’t seem phased.

“We think so, but that’s only half the problem.”

“And the other half?”

Hannibal suddenly looked much older and his eyes slid away from Amy’s and towards the back of BA’s seat. “A while back,” he began. “We had an assignment, a mission that we’d been hired to do…it didn’t go as planned and Murdock… he took the fall. He hasn’t been the same since.”

“He was injured?”

“No, he never woke up.”

“You mean he died!” Somewhere inside her Amy knew that couldn’t be the case, after all they wouldn’t be picking up a dead man, but still the question flew from her mouth unrestrained.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” this time it was BA, voice low. “Fool’s too crazy to die. He’s just sleeping.”

“He’s in a coma of sorts,” Hannibal explained. “He’ll move if you direct him, eat if prompted, even follow simple tasks, but he’s not really awake. That being said he’s not exactly asleep either. It’s like he’s sleep walking, but we can’t get him to wake up”

“Which is why we’re gonna be here  _ when  _ he wakes up,” BA tacked on, voice deadly serious.

Amy’s brow furrowed, “But if he’s in a coma how do you use him for missions?”

“Simple,” Hannibal began. “Usually we have to knock everyone out before entering their dreams, but not him. He’s already asleep, doesn’t wake up, so we just give him the drugs he needs to join us and then he’s just as awake and alive as you and I are.”

“Fool ain’t dead Hannibal,” there’s a defensive note to BA’s voice, almost threatening.

“Of course not, BA,” Hannibal said placidedly. “I meant that only figuratively.”

“Now the tricky part is ensuring that he wakes up from the dream and lands himself back in reality, or rather his version of it,” Hannibal continued. “But we make do.”

“And the hospital lets you do this to him?” Amy asked, flabbergasted. 

“The hospital doesn’t know,” there’s a threat there in Hannibal’s voice, letting Amy know that if the hospital did find out she would be to blame. “Face comes up with excuses, a three-week test here, a four-day miracle cure there, and he comes with us until the mission’s over. We also have an inside source, a Dr. Richter. He was helping Murdock even before the coma and in turn we helped save him. He owes us for that one, so he keeps an eye on our Captain for us and turns a blind eye when Murdock disappears.”

Amy wanted to ask more questions, it’s the reporter in her, a constant need for answers and more information, but before she can BA spoke up from the front.

“Here comes Face.”

“Go ahead and pull up to him BA,” Hannibal directed instantly. “No use in making them walk farther than needed.”

As BA moved the van, Amy looked out the window to see Face pushing a wheelchair towards them. But what caught her eye was the man seated on it, a baseball cap over his head and a bomber jacket around his shoulders. There’s a pile of blankets situated on his lap, no doubt an effort to keep out the autumn chill, but Amy can’t help but think that all it did was make him look very small.

Hannibal yanked the door open, speaking to Amy as he did so, “If you wouldn’t mind heading to the back, this is much easier to do when we can put him in one of the middle two seats.”

“You can’t put him in the front?” Amy asked, curiously. It seemed like the easiest solution.

“Can’t,” Hannibal smiled. “For whatever reason he’s incapable of stopping himself from pushing the radio buttons.”

“Crazy fool won’t even leave my van alone when he’s sleepin’,” BA scowled, but there’s an air of amusement to it.

“A little help!” Face piped up. “He’s not listening.”

Amy looked over Hannibal’s shoulder to see Face trying to get the comatosed man onto his feet, but whenever he went to help Murdock stand the man sank further into the blankets instead.

“Come on, Captain,” Hannibal said, and Amy thought that it was the first time she’d heard him sound gentle. “We just need you to step up into the van for us, okay?”

There was something odd about the way that Murdock’s head turned to face Hannibal, but his eyes remained unfocused and glazed. Staring at something distantly, before falling to the ground.

Hannibal sighed.

“Alright, Face, help me lift him.”

They gathered the lanky man into their arms and lifted him into the van, settling him into a seat. Face folded the wheelchair carefully and slid it inside.

Amy couldn’t help, but notice that he suddenly looked very tired as he took the seat next to Murdock. Outside Hannibal closed the van door and moved to the front seat.

“Right, BA, let’s get going,” he ordered once inside. “We have a batch of slimeballs to take down. Face you go in after Murdock,” Face didn’t look up, but he nodded, unpacking supplies.

“Do you want me to do it now or at the safehouse?”

“Go ahead and do it now, the sooner he has the information the better.”

“The information?” Amy asked. “How’s he gonna do that?”

“He’s going to take the files with him,” Hannibal explained.

“How? You can’t you take physical objects into dreams?” She hesitated. “Can you?”

“No, you’re right you can’t, not really,” Hannibal confirmed. “But he looked them over, memorized what he could and that’s what he’s going to take with him. The memory. In the end we’ll take the captain the information in trips, starting with whatever Face has in his brain now.”

“But he barely looked at them! There’s no way he remembers everything I wrote down!”

“Have you ever heard a song on the radio and been able to sing along to every word, but once you try and go and sing it later you can’t remember a darn thing?”

Amy nodded.

“It’s like that, Face read the words, somewhere in his subconscious they’re still there. All he has to do is pull them up once he’s under and give them to Murdock,” Hannibal finished.

“And Murdock’s going to remember them?” She asked, unable to keep the skepticism from her voice.

“Of course,” Hannibal stated proudly. “Murdock has a photographic memory, he’ll be fine.”

“Oh yes…of course,” Amy deadpanned, and Hannibal looked at her amused. 

Then he turned to address Face, “How’s it coming, Face?”

Amy looked to see that the younger man had already rolled up Murdock’s sleeve and was expertly sliding a needle into place, “I’m ready when you are Hannibal.”

“Alright, say hi to him for me,” Hannibal said as he pushed a button. 

Amy watched in fascination as the drugs began to pump from the machine and into Face’s and Murdock’s bloodstreams.

“Always do,” Face mumbled, as he closed his eyes and drifted off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love some feedback :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave some comments and kudos below!


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